If you have a cute little yorkie, you’re going to want to protect them from everything. Unfortunately, it’s less likely to be bears or bigger dogs that harm your yorkie, but their own health. Luckily, there are things you can do to make sure your yorkie stays healthy.
The best way to start is by knowing what to look for in your pup and then spotting it early enough to treat. To help you out, we’ve got a breakdown of the most common yorkie health conditions and how to spot them.
Luxating Patellas
Dog’s bones have a bad habit of giving them trouble often. In larger breeds, this can look like hip problems, whereas in smaller dogs like yorkies, you’re more likely to see problems in their knees.
Problems like luxating patellas, which might sound like a great Italian dish, but are actually the kneecaps temporarily slipping out of place. It’s usually a symptom of a bigger developmental problem and can be spotted by looking out for the occasional skip when your yorkie is running.
Once the skip on the road is over, the knee tends to slip back into place, and they keep going.
Bladder Stones
Bladder stones are somewhat akin to kidney stones, in that a collection of minerals in the bladder has resulted in a little cluster that then is painful to pass. If they get bad enough, they might have to be surgically removed.
You can spot the signs of a bladder stone by looking out for a lot of drinking and urination, blood in the urine, straining or pain when urinating or peeing very little.
Lens Luxation And Dry Eye
Looking into your pup’s beautiful baby blues might cause concern if you see there is some discoloration there. This is lens luxation, and it can cause pain and vision loss. It will take some surgery to set it right, so it’s best to catch it early to avoid that.
Dry eye, as the name would suggest, means that your dog cannot produce enough tears, causing dry eyes that will get scratched as they open and close. You might notice a lack of shine in the eyes or some discharge appearing.
Luckily, this doesn’t need to get to the point of surgery. There are several available treatments like eye drops, false tears, and wiping your dog’s eyes regularly.
Atopy
We’ve all got allergies. Springtime is a great time of year for the tissue industry, and it seems even yorkies aren’t exempt from them. Atopy is usually presented as a skin allergy, for the same reasons your eyes water in an open field: pollen, grass, etc. but also dust mites and certain foods.
And like you’d expect to see in a skin allergy, there’s a lot of itching, redness, and hair loss. It can be treated, but treatment is a try-and-see sort of situation. It can involve strict flea control, changing their diet, medication to stop the itching, and even immunotherapy.
What You Can Do About It
If you are keeping an eye out for these symptoms, you should be able to catch the problem early and get it sorted. With dog insurance from Petsure, you’ll be able to solve the problem without it affecting your wallet too much.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much else you can do to avoid these problems. Some health conditions are hereditary in breeds, and the Yorkie is no different.
You can be picky with your breeder and ask for the background of the parents of your pup, but if you are getting a rescue, you’ll have to deal with the problems as they come.
